Breathe
by wookie
Summary: *Post Tempest* Sometimes things don't work out, no matter how much you want them to. C/C


Title: Breathe  
  
Author: Wookie  
  
Email: wook1013@gwu.edu  
  
Spoilers: Post Tempest, brief mention of other S1 Episodes.  
  
Disclaimers: They aren't mine. But if they were I would think about making it the All-Singing, All-Dancing, All-Chloe show!  
  
Thanks to the same old wonderful people. Tresca, Cyb, and Wubba. Damn, they rock. No really. No. Really.  
  
Feedback: It calms the beast for a while.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chloe was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling – as she had been for the last hour – when her cell phone rang. She really didn't have to check the ID. She knew who it was.  
  
"Hey," she said quietly into the phone.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Did you find her?"  
  
"Lana? Yeah. She is going to be okay. Listen I…I…" Clark trailed off.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Clark. It's okay." They were both silent for a moment.  
  
Chloe smiled – it was either smile or cry lately. Everything was just going wrong: Justin, Officer Psycho, LuthorCorp, and even this… thing with Clark. Instead of getting together, things were just wrong between them. Just…wrong.  
  
Maybe it was her. Chloe could barely believe she had stood in front of Clark yesterday and blurted out her insecurities a day ago. That was just bizarre. Chloe sighed.  
  
"Chloe? Are you still there?"  
  
"Yeah, sorry."  
  
"I was thinking…could I come pick you up?"  
  
"Clark, I don't know. Maybe you should just go get some sleep." And forget this. All this mess.  
  
"Please, Chloe?"  
  
Chloe sat up and ran her hand through her hair. What the hell? "Sure. I'll meet you outside in a couple minutes. Bye."  
  
Chloe threw on a pair of jeans and a tank top and went outside.  
  
It was amazing…a couple hours after the tornados and everything was peaceful. The only difference was the scent in the air. Before a storm the air was electric. After one it was earthy. The air smelled like fresh soil and grass. Chloe closed her eyes and breathed in the scent. She was going to miss it.  
  
She opened her eyes when she heard the car pull up to the drive. She walked over to it slowly, and climbed in. "Took your mom's car?"  
  
"Yeah, the truck, uh, is still having problems."  
  
"Ah. Mind if I roll down the windows?"  
  
"No, sure, yeah that's great." Clark said and fiddled with the controls. .  
  
Chloe shook her head almost imperceptibly. She really didn't want to deal with the awkwardness now. "Listen, Clark, maybe we should do this… whatever…some other time."  
  
"No no, I got it. The windows were just locked. Here we go." The windows rolled down and Chloe took a deep breath.  
  
"Okay," Clark said under his breath and he started down the street.  
  
Chloe was pretty sure they were heading to Clark's house, but she didn't say anything. She looked outside her window and watched the houses go by. She put her hand out the window and let the wind buffet against it. As they headed into the farm area, the earthy smell was stronger.  
  
Chloe closed her eyes and turned her face to the window and took deep breaths. She didn't know why exactly she was so fascinated with it. But all things considered, she deserved to be a little weird.  
  
She was almost disappointed when she felt the car slow down and heard the crunch of the gravel. Chloe hit the button to close the window with a sigh. She looked over at Clark as he pulled the car up to the barn.  
  
"Clark, what are we doing here?"  
  
Clark smiled at her hesitantly and got out of the car. Chloe got out and followed him dutifully, through the barn and halfway up the stairs, where Clark stopped her. "Hold on just one second, okay?" he asked before he ran up the stairs.  
  
Chloe scuffed the step with her sneaker. Suddenly, it felt like there was a weight on her chest. This just wasn't a good idea – not tonight. "Clark, I don't think…"  
  
"Okay, come up!" Clark called out over her objections.  
  
Chloe moved up the rest of the stairs slowly. Each step, the pressure on her chest was getting stronger.  
  
She reached the landing and smiled sadly. Clark had blown up balloons and cleared out all the stuff – he had made a pretty good re-creation of the dance. Chloe should have been thrilled, but instead she just felt tired.  
  
"This is really…nice," Chloe said, unable to find other words.  
  
"Thanks. I got the idea from someone who is much better at this stuff than me." He pressed play on his stereo, and an old, pretty song started to play. He slowly broke into a shy grin. "I thought maybe we could finish our dance."  
  
"I…umm…sure. Yeah. We could do that." Chloe moved in to his arms again. She could hardly believe it was just a few hours ago that she had been so thrilled at the prospect. Rather than grinning manically up at him like she could remember doing at the dance, she looked in front of her, stared at his chest.  
  
Suddenly a little whimper escaped her when she breathed in again. Oh god, she was going to cry. Oh hell.  
  
Clark moved back, and she could tell he was looking at her quizzically. "Chloe? Are you okay?"  
  
Chloe took a deep breath and dropped her arms. "I'm fine. I'm just…I don't know," she broke off. "I'm just going to miss this place."  
  
"I'm going to miss you," Clark said quietly. He placed his hand under her chin and lightly tipped her head up.  
  
Chloe knew it was coming...the kiss, the one that she had been waiting for since, well, since she kissed him during her first week in Smallville. But the pressure on her chest just kept building. It wasn't right. Something wasn't right.  
  
She turned her head away.  
  
"Chloe?" Clark asked confused.  
  
"I just…thanks, Clark… but I can't. I just…I don't…I don't need something else to worry about." She saw the hurt in his eyes, and tried to explain. "It's just, everything is going wrong lately. All that weird stuff and Dad and the company and everything. I just can't have to worry about you – us – whatever, when I don't know if I am going to be here next week or month."  
  
"Okay. It's okay," Clark said quietly. He led her over to the couch and sat down next to her, then gathered her close and hugged her.  
  
She was pressed up against his neck and Chloe breathed him in haltingly. It was a good smell, a mixture of the grass and soil from outside and the unmistakable scent of Clark.  
  
She was going to miss that too. 


End file.
